Most helpful positive review

When I was briefed that I had to write about semiotics as part of the Visual Communication module of my photography HNC, I was lost until I found this book. Its brilliant. It provided me with all the information and understanding I needed to get a grasp of hidden meanings and codes in imagery. I'm now looking to find and create them all the time. I have seen books before written by senior university lecturers, written in a language that is enough to send you to sleep after a couple of pages, but this book is not one of those. It flows, it is interesting, it is entertaining and you want to turn the page. I highly recommend it.

Most helpful critical review

It seems more aimed at someone setting out in Media Studies, to get them to break from their conventional way of looking at, and thinking of things, rather than a treatise on semiotics. I worried about its provenance when in the author/printers couldn't spell the name of the famous philosopher/semioticist Charles Sanders Peirce correctly.

The book has no index, just a contents page, a reasonable bibliography and contains about 40% text and 60% pictures that take up whole pages of copious examples plus half a page of explanation on the verso for each. It's a style but unfortunately not mine. It could be condensed to about 100 pages with ease - or more preferably filled out with more substance on semiotics.

Simply not worth the money. The sign on the front is most appropriate.

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When I was briefed that I had to write about semiotics as part of the Visual Communication module of my photography HNC, I was lost until I found this book. Its brilliant. It provided me with all the information and understanding I needed to get a grasp of hidden meanings and codes in imagery. I'm now looking to find and create them all the time. I have seen books before written by senior university lecturers, written in a language that is enough to send you to sleep after a couple of pages, but this book is not one of those. It flows, it is interesting, it is entertaining and you want to turn the page. I highly recommend it.

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It seems more aimed at someone setting out in Media Studies, to get them to break from their conventional way of looking at, and thinking of things, rather than a treatise on semiotics. I worried about its provenance when in the author/printers couldn't spell the name of the famous philosopher/semioticist Charles Sanders Peirce correctly.

The book has no index, just a contents page, a reasonable bibliography and contains about 40% text and 60% pictures that take up whole pages of copious examples plus half a page of explanation on the verso for each. It's a style but unfortunately not mine. It could be condensed to about 100 pages with ease - or more preferably filled out with more substance on semiotics.

Simply not worth the money. The sign on the front is most appropriate.

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this book is clear and easy to read for those, like me, that are new to semiotics and simply want to know what it's all about. it also has lots of helpful pictures and questions to think about. it was just what I was looking for!

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If the title is mystifying, the sub-heading of this book is off-putting. But that's the point - it's about communication, and ambiguities of communication. Inside however, I found this an excellent work, clear and well-argued. I don't agree with all of Sean Hall's points but I appreciate it and like the way it's presented. So he's done a really good job.